1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an application parallel processing system employing a multi-processor and, more particularly, to an application parallel processing system which realizes, on a multi-processor, parallel processing of such an application as browser and a function expansion module such as add-in software or plug-in executed by the application in question.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional application having a function of executing software for function expansion of an application (hereinafter referred to as function expansion module) such as add-in software or plug-in is designed to be executed on the same processor together with its function expansion module.
With reference to FIG. 8, a conventional system structure will be described which executes a browser as an application having a function of executing a function expansion module.
In the system shown in FIG. 8, on a data processing device 500 formed of a single processor, a browser 600 runs which has a document reading unit 610 for interpreting an HTML document to conduct display processing and a function expansion unit 620 for executing plug-in etc. as a function expansion module. The function expansion unit 620 is provided as many as the kinds of function expansion modules to be executed.
Operation in a case of executing HTML document display processing in the above-described system is as follows. First, the document reading unit 610 reads a relevant HTML document from a main storage device 550 or an external storage device to interpret and display the read HTML document ((1) in FIG. 8).
When a function expansion statement including an instruction related to a function expansion module is interpreted in the HTML document, processing corresponding to the instruction in question is notified to the function expansion unit 620 equivalent to the relevant function expansion module by such a method as function call ((2) in FIG. 8).
According to the notified processing request, the function expansion unit 620 having received the notification controls generation of a function expansion task 700 ((3) in FIG. 8).
Through the foregoing operation, the browser 600 and the plug-in as its function expansion module are executed on the processing device 500.
Such application having a function of executing a function expansion module as described above has its processing be heavier than that of other application having no function expansion module and is designed to be executed basically on a single processor together with its function expansion module.
Therefore, operating such application having a function of executing a function expansion module as described above in data processing devices internally provided with a single processor whose processing capacity is not so large such as portable terminals including a cellular phone and a portable PC will result in making processing be heavier to disable speedy operation.
On the other hand, enhancing a processing speed of an application having a function of executing a function expansion module by increasing an operating frequency to improve a processor processing capacity invites an increase in power consumption, which is not preferable for data processing devices such as portable terminals including a cellular phone and a portable PC whose long-time drive with low power consumption is demanded.
Although operating the above-described application on a multi-processor eliminates the above-described problems, for operating the application on a multi-processor, modification for a multi-processor should be added to the above-described application, which causes another problem of enormous labor and costs for the modification.